Accountability on campus and in court

Emily is a reporter and newsletter producer for statehouse accountability news organization PA Post, and the senior reporter for statewide public media collaboration Keystone Crossroads. She previously covered city hall for PennLive/The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) and The Press of Atlantic City, after reporting for the Northwest Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

From The Context, PA Post’s weekday email newsletter:

The Philadelphia-Atlantic City rail line is finally back in service, minus one late-night train, according to this WHYY story, just in time for Memorial Day weekend and the official start of beach season. -Emily Previti, Newsletter Producer/Reporter

‘What took them so long?’

Governor Tom Wolf / Flickr

State Treasurer Joe Torsella and Gov. Tom Wolf.

State Treasurer Joe Torsella is taking PPL to court because he says the utility isn’t fully cooperating with auditors in trying to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners, the Associated Press reports.

Swarthmore College is banning fraternities for good and phasing out the school’s sole sorority. The announcement comes after its two frats already voluntarily disbanded in the wake of a student protest over leaked documents in which members of one organization joked about sexual assault and made derogatory comments about women and the LGBTQ community. “Activists celebrated,” The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Anna Orso writes, “but many who said the behavior at those fraternities was an ‘open secret’ still criticized school administrators, wondering: What took them so long?” Full story is here.

A former Philadelphia mayoral aide has pleaded guilty in the case over her financial mismanagement, including racking up more than $19,000 in personal expenses on two city-issued credit cards. WHYY’s Laura Benshoff has all the details in this story.

Best of the rest

Matt Rourke / The Associated Press

The Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg.

State lawmakers are divided over whether and how to change the way judges get on the bench in Pennsylvania’s statewide Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme courts. Pa. is one of just seven states in which top and appellate court judges run as representatives of political parties, according to Ballotpedia’s compendium of practices. Katie Meyer has this update on the legislative debate for PA Post.

Former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister is seeking office again over objections from the local GOP that he has too much baggage, reports PA Post’s Ed Mahon in his latest story on the subject.

A recent ranking from 24/7 Wall Street shows the richest town in every state. I expected it to be on the Main Line somewhere, but it’s not. The wealthiest in Pa. is Edgeworth, Allegheny County. See them all here.